Nietzsche 101: "Prejudices of Philosophers"

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"There comes a point in every philosophy where the Philosopher's 'conviction' steps onto the stage." - Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

We generally believe that we human-folk have instincts and desires, and separate from these some additional faculty called reason. What makes us so sure, though, that this is the case? What if all we are is our instincts and desires, and our convictions (reason?) are but the expression of a particular configuration of these affects?

Perhaps all philosophies are the natural outgrowth from a particular 'type' of Philosopher?

This meetup is part 2 of our 5 week "course" on Nietzsche. "Prejudices of Philosophers" is a section from a mature work "Beyond Good and Evil." As in the first week, this section is fairly short, but has within it a wealth of Nietzsche's thought:

• will to power

• the primacy of the affects

• the role and nature of truth

But perhaps this is really saying the same thing - from three different perspectives?

Someone once told me that "Nietzsche should not be read, he should be memorized." A few snippets from this weeks reading:

• "The falseness of an opinion is not for us any objection to it..."

• "[a philosophy] always creates the world in its own image; it cannot do otherwise. Philosophy is this tyrannical impulse itself, the most spiritual will to power..."

• "I shall never tire of emphasizing a small, terse fact... that a thought comes when 'it' wishes, and not when 'I' wish."

We will do a close read of the text as a means to engage with the ideas through group discussion.

This meetup assumes no prior knowledge of Nietzsche, and those new to Philosophy are welcome. Attendance at the other "Nietzsche 101" meetups is not necessary.

"To recognize untruth as a condition of life; that is certainly to impugn the traditional ideas of value in a dangerous manner, and a philosophy which ventures to do so, has thereby alone placed itself beyond good and evil."